How to See If Health Information on Social Media Is Credible

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Whether you’re looking for a recipe, catching up with the latest trends, or staying up with the news, social media plays a large role in people’s daily lives.

In fact, people spend an average of 2 hours and 21 minutes a day on social media.

While many people rely heavily on social media to get information, facts, and news, the quality of information can also be questionable.

With this in mind, the Public Health Communication Collaborative (PHCC) created a guide on Evaluating Credibility on Social Media.

Let’s dive deeper into this tool and find out how it can help your community!

Check Credibility of Health Information on Social Media with SIFT

When considering health information on social media, PHCC encourages people to review the information using the acronym SIFT.

SIFT, originally developed by digital literacy expert Mike Caulfield, stands for:

• Stop: Stop before reading too deeply into a social media post and evaluate the reputation of the source and determine what one knows about the source.
• Investigate the Source: Learn about a social media post’s source, including how it is viewed by other trusted sources. This can help audiences understand the source’s experience with a topic, the depth of their topic knowledge, and uncover potential biases, which can help determine if the source is credible.
• Find better coverage: Don’t rely on only one source. Explore multiple perspectives about a claim to determine if it is credible.
• Trace claims, quotes, and media to the original: It’s important to question what is presented in social media and be willing to ask yourself. Could context be missing from a message, image, or video?  Does the data support the headline or message? Can the information be traced back to its source?

The complete Evaluating Credibility in Social Media Posts guide can be accessed here. The guide is also available in English and Spanish.

Health Information and Social Media

In the United States, 73% of people (around 253 million) are active on social media.

With the thousands of websites, social media accounts, and resources hubs for people to get health and medial information and communication, it’s crucial that people choose and collect information from credible, trust-worthy resources.

“Social media content is a major and valuable source of health information for millions of people. In fact, almost 6 in 10 U.S. adults search the internet for health information that they use to inform their health decisions,” said Dr. James O’Donovan,  Director of Research at Community Health Impact Coalition and technical advisor to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Platforms like TikTok and Instagram can provide a wealth of health information and trends but can also pose a danger and circulate incorrect information.

“While some trends are relatively harmless, like when people were putting potatoes in their socks overnight to ‘draw out toxins,’ others can be dangerous, such as anti-vaccine content or videos that encouraged people to drink borax with their morning coffee,” according to The University of Chicago Medicine.

 The National Institute on Aging (NIA) also highlights that just because some posts on health and medical information can be shared by friends and family on social media, always ensure that the post information is accurate.

“Check the source of the information, and make sure the original author is credible. Fact-checking websites can also help you determine if a story is reliable,” according to the NIA.

When in doubt, it’s recommended to speak to a healthcare provider about health questions and concerns.

“Use the information you find online as one tool to become more informed. Don’t count on any one website and check your sources. Discuss what you find with your doctor before making any changes to your health care,” according to the NIA.

Take Charge of Your Community’s Health

You need correct health information to make good health decisions for you and your familia.

What about the health of your community?

Find out by downloading a Salud America! Health Report Card for your town!

Enter your county name and get auto-generated local data with interactive maps and comparative gauges on several health indicators. This can help you visualize and explore local issues in education, housing, transportation, food, health, and more.

See how your county stacks up compared to the rest of your state and nation.

Then email the Report Card to local leaders to raise awareness, include the data in a presentation or grant proposal, or share it on social media to drive healthy change in your community!

GET YOUR HEALTH REPORT CARD!